March 1, 2010, at 7:56 pm
The orange, white and blue of the Netherlands may be fielding their strongest team to date for the 2010 World Cup and if the qualification stage was any indication, Holland should breeze through the group stage. Paired with Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, the Dutch are favored to win the group and my personal dark-horse to advance to the semifinals of the competition.
Previous World Cup’s have not been very kind to the Netherlands and the tradition of world-class football is not nearly what it is for some of the other high-profile teams competing. Much to my surprise (I’m only 25), Holland made back-to-back World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978 but lost them both. Since then, the team has done poorly, missing qualification for the World Cup three times.
If there’s one clear advantage that the Netherlands has coming into the 2010 World Cup and it’s the experience all of their players will have on the pitch. Every projected starter has at least 25 team caps except one and even the primary subs are no stranger to stiff competition. Familiar names like Klaas Jan-Huntelaar and Ryan Babel will anchor the late game substitutions and while you won’t see the familiar face of Edwin van der Saar in goal, Maarten Stekelenburg is no slouch.
Since 1978, Holland has not looked outside of their own country for a football coach and in 2008, after a disappointing exit in extra time of 2008 Euro, the Dutch have turned to untested Bert van Marwijk to lead. Because he’s early in his coaching career, Marwijk is known more for being the father in-law of forward Mark van Bommel than for anything he’s done in his new leadership role. 4th place here he comes!
